Just trying to get through life without looking stupid. So far it's not going too well.

Food

I enjoy a Chipotle burrito every now and then, and I always get their barbacoa beef. For the Super Bowl party, I finally got around to attempting to make something like it myself. I picked up 6.5 pounds of chuck roast from the butcher and plopped it in the slow cooker for about 8 hours. It was so good! This one is going into our regular rotation. Below you’ll find the recipe that I used from Genius Kitchen, modified just a little bit:

Ingredients

1⁄3 cup apple cider vinegar

4 teaspoons minced garlic cloves

4 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons lime juice

3 dried chipotle chiles

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3⁄4 cup chicken broth

3 bay leaves

4 -5 lbs chuck roast

Directions

To make the adobo sauce combine vinegar, lime juice, chipotles, garlic, cumin, oregano, black pepper and salt in a blender or processor on high speed until smooth.

Remove most of the fat from the roast and then cut into large chunks.

Pour oil into a frying pan and sear all sides of roast on medium-high heat until browned.

Place meat into slow cooker and pour adobo sauce over meat.

Pour in the chicken broth and add bay leaves.

Cook on high heat 6 hours or on low all day.

While still in the Crockpot, shred the meat with two forks and turn the heat to warm. Serve with hard or soft tortilla shells when ready.

I’m two months behind Luke, but I just had my 500th different kind of beer. Oddly enough, it was a bottled beer from Red Hook. Living just a couple miles from the brewery, I regularly have bottles of their beers and I’ve been through most of the stuff they have on tap too. But I was at Tim’s house and had their American Pale Ale for the first time. It was launched last summer.

I still enjoy trying new beers, but I think the next 500 will take longer, not because of a shortage of new beers, but because I want to enjoy some of the best ones that I’ve found along the way to 500.

And if you like trying new beers too, feel free to send me a friend request on untappd.

I love shepherd’s pie, but mostly I love the idea of it because I rarely make it. The other weekend, I finally decided to look up an easy version of the recipe and I found this one from Food.com. I cheated and used packaged mashed potatoes and it worked fine. Real would be better but that’s a lot of work.

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

2 cups mashed potatoes, hot (packaged will work if time is tight)

4 ounces cream cheese, cubed

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1 cup beef gravy

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F Brown meat in skillet and drain.

Mix potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese and the garlic until well blended.

Stir vegetables and gravy into meat.

Spoon into 9-inch square baking dish.

Cover with potato mixture. Don’t worry about it being perfectly even, the more rustic it looks, the better.

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, honey, 1-1/2 teaspoons oil and lemon juice. Pour 1/2 cup into a large resealable plastic bag; add the chicken. Seal the bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate the remaining marinade

Drain and discard marinade from chicken. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in remaining oil on all sides. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Transfer to a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish.

In the same skillet, saute mushrooms in butter until tender. Spoon reserved marinade over chicken. Top with cheeses and mushrooms. Place bacon strips in a crisscross pattern over chicken.

Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°. Sprinkle with parsley.

We have been making some new recipes lately so for the next three days, I’ll share some of the best ones with you.

The first is a great, quick weeknight recipe and it would be a good way to use up some of those ham leftovers after Easter. (via Food Network)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 onion, chopped

One 8-ounce piece deli ham, diced

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

One 17.5-ounce package potato gnocchi

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

1/4 cup heavy cream

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese

Directions

Preheat the broiler to high heat.

Melt the butter in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the ham and thyme and continue to cook until the ham is lightly browned.

Add the chicken broth and 3/4 cup water and bring to a simmer. Add the gnocchi, stir well, cover and cook until the gnocchi is slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Uncover and stir in the peas, cream, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and broil until golden and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Serve.